Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm

me and Masters, and today we'll look into a number of stories and

issues in the news. We'll begin with the smallest man with the biggest job in America,

a belligerent nuclear gunfighter Pete Hagseth, who called out China in a hegemonic

showdown on Saturday in Singapore, at the same time assuring Xi Jinping that the U.S.

does not stand for human rights or care about climate change.

Joining us to discuss the warning of China's imminent threat to Taiwan from the woefully unqualified Secretary of Defense

who was cast in the role by his reality TV boss because of Hague Seth Squarejord macho blustering on Fox News is Michael Swain,

a senior research fellow and former director of the Quincy Institute's East Asia program.

One of the most prominent American scholars of Chinese security studies,

he previously worked for nearly 20 years as a senior fellow at the Canadian Dandam for

international peace, specializing in Chinese defense and foreign policy, U.S.-China relations,

and East Asian international relations. He also advises the U.S. government on Asian security

issues, and his books include remaining aligned on the challenges facing Taiwan

and conflict and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, a strategic net assessment.

And we will discuss his article at the Washington Quarterly, Taiwan Defending a Non-Vital

U.S. interest.

Then we'll speak with Ryan Cooper, managing editor at the American Prospect.

He is the co-host of the Left Anchor podcast, as well as the author of the new book.

How are you going to pay for that?

Smart answers to the dumbest questions in politics.

And we will discuss his latest article at the American prospect, How I Survived

...